City council agrees to hire downtown parking attendant
After months of discussions by an advisory group on how best to address ongoing parking issues that have cropped up within the past year in the city’s Central Business District, the El Dorado City Council has taken the reins and agreed to hire a new downtown parking attendant.
Council members voted 6 - 2 on the matter during a regular meeting May 21. Council members Mike Rice and Willie McGhee voted no.
The vote followed a lengthy debate that grew tense at times.
Some council members noted that downtown merchants and property owners have repeatedly asked that existing parking ordinances be enforced downtown.
The city’s last parking attendant was terminated in early 2019 and soon afterward, members of the Downtown Business Association, Main Street El Dorado, the Murphy
Arts District and downtown business and property owners convened a specially called meeting with Mayor Veronica SmithCreer to discuss problems that had arisen up in the absence of a downtown parking attendant.
They complained that employees who work in downtown businesses and offices were violating the three-hour parking limit within the controlled parking zone and blocking customers from convenient parking spaces.
Last August, Smith-Creer formed a voluntary, advisory task force made up of downtown merchants, including members of the DBA, downtown employees and Police Chief Kenny Hickman to vet the matter and come up with solutions. Several ideas
The task force has discussed several ideas — including re-installing parking meters in downtown El Dorado, developing a campaign to encourage downtown visitors to walk, assigning police officers to a downtown beat, stricter enforcement for violations of the parking ordinance and implementing a mobile app that would take care of paid parking — none of which have been deemed viable by the group.
On May 21, Smith-Creer said that having a parking attendant did not work because many of the tickets that were being issued for parking violations were not being paid and people were continuing to violate the three-hour parking limit within the controlled parking zone.
A three-hour parking limit is set for the controlled zone from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday — Friday, with the exception of legal holidays.
The zone includes:
• Both sides of Washington between Oak and Cedar.
• Both sides of Jefferson between Oak and Cedar.
• Both sides of Elm between Cleveland and Hill.
• Both sides of Main between Cleveland and
Hill.
• Both sides of Hill between Cedar and Elm.
• Both sides of Cedar between Cleveland and Hill.
• The south side of Main between Hill and Jackson.
• The south side of Main between Cleveland and
South West Avenue.
Members of the task force also said there were complaints that parking citations were not being issued fairly.
In response to the parking problem, downtown developer and business/ property owner Richard Mason, who has lodged several complaints about the issue, agreed to free up a formerly paid, cityowned parking lot in the area of Elm, Cleveland and Oak streets.
As a service to the city, Mason had collected fees from the lot to be used to help maintain planters and other maintenance issues in downtown El Dorado.
Another free, city-owned parking lot is available on Locust Street across from the Murphy Arts District Amphitheater.
Union County Judge Mike Loftin and two other county officials also relinquished their assigned parking spaces around the Union County Courthouse to free up more parking within the controlled zone. Support downtown merchants
Council Member Billy Blann broached the issue during the May 21 council meeting, saying that Mason sent out a letter to city officials a few weeks ago asking that downtown parking ordinances be enforced.
Blann also said the council should support small business owners downtown.
“The downtown merchants, they need our support from City Hall … They just need to know that we have their back and I don’t think they feel that way at this minute,” Blann said. “We have put millions into this downtown and right now, we’re not putting anything in it for the merchants, not a penny.”
While violations of the three-hour parking ordinance are a major issue, Blann said other violations — including double-parking, parking in alleyways, parking in spots that are designated for the disabled and parking in areas where no parking signs are posted — also need to be addressed.
He initially made a motion asking to hire a code enforcement officer cover the 20-block downtown area but other council members asked him to amend the motion for clarification.
Council Member Dianne Hammond said the city previously had an employee who monitored downtown parking and issued citations for violations.
“Have we looked at the idea of finding a company to manage the parking like they do in other cities?” Council Member Mike Rice asked.
“They put parking meters up, the parking meter runs out, we don’t tie it up in the court system, the city’s not involved and we turn around and get a cut of anywhere, depending on how we negotiate the contract, 30 percent to even as much as 50 percent of the proceeds and then we’re out of it,” Rice continued. “It also doesn’t tie the tickets up through the courts. They put a boot on the car. If it’s got enough tickets, you work it out. It’s a contractual thing.”
Smith-Creer said the option had been discussed by the advisory panel, noting that the mobile parking app service works in a similar fashion.
“The people that represented the task force did not want to go to the meters and they did not want to do the mobile app. What they wanted to do was free up more parking so that the merchants would have places to park so that the customers wouldn’t have to park in other places,” the mayor said.
She said there also concern about tearing up downtown sidewalks with the installation of parking meters.
Council Member Paul Choate agreed that installing parking meters was not a viable solution because “people can just keep feeding the meter.”
“Your three hours can be another three hours and then another three hours so parking meters can become a real impediment to moving people off the spot,” he said.
Choate said many cities enforce such ordinances with certified personnel that work with the local police department and the person not only monitors parking, but can also write accident reports and maintain direct contact with police should any other issues arise.
“So there’s a public safety aspect to having this individual,” he said, adding that he was in favor hiring a parking attendant and ensuring that the person receives the necessary training for the job.
Choate and Council Member Judy Ward said the city needs to enforce existing ordinances, with Ward noting that the downtown parking issue has “come up” a number of times over the years.
“We have a lot of ordinances that seem to be useless, with that being one of them. So you are right. That is up to you all to make sure that if we have ordinances on the books, they are effective,” Smith-Creer said.
Blann disagreed, saying, “I see myself as a policy-maker and I see you as the administrator and that is your job to have (the ordinances) enforced and that’s what I’m asking you to do tonight.”
Rice inquired about the parking attendant’s salary, asking if it had been directed toward the hiring of the manager of the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium.
Other city officials and Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said yes and Blann said the Finance Committee could look into the matter to find money in the city budget for the parking attendant’s position.
The salary and other details, including if the position will be part-time or full-time and if it will entail other job responsibilities, could be worked out later, Hammond said.
Council Member Andre Rucks said he favored hiring a part-time parking attendant and installing parking meters downtown as a revenue-generator for the city.
Following the vote, McGhee said the council should work with the task force on the matter.
Blann said the task force had not presented any workable solutions to council members and Smith-Creer said she had discussed with the council options that had been explored by the task force.
“Now, Willie, I understand coming together but I think we just did,” Choate said to McGhee. “We just had a 6-2 vote to hire somebody to enforce ordinances in that 20-block area and if this doesn’t work, we have to come back to the table.”